It's Getting Better
by myharlequinromance321
Summary: Josephine Hayworth has lived a hard eleven years. Come with her on her journey of self discovery as she embarks on her first year at Hogwarts. ABANDONED.
1. Intoduction

It was an unusually cold night in London. As Big Ben strikes it's twelfth chime, the cries of a newborn can be heard.

This child ,unbeknownst to the medical personnel, is the result of a heinous crime...

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><p>Nine months ago, a woman begins a leisurely stroll home from the neighborhood grocers. She looks both ways, as any educated woman would, and crosses the final street before reaching her doorway. While occupied with untangling the mass of keys and various other items in her purse, a man slips into her path. Looking up with a short lived grin of satisfaction from taming the wild beast that is her purse. She stops six feet short of the door. Panic engulfs her body causing a burst of adrenaline. She uses her adrenaline and makes a run for it, he follows staying close behind. As the race continues for block upon block she begins losing her rush. She sees a turn ahead and blindly follows the curve. It was a mistake. She has turned into a dead ended alley. Turning around she comes face-to-smarmy-face with her pursuer. Time seems to slow as she tries to find a way to escape this horrid fate. Nothing comes to mind.<p>

"Shit."

The only sounds coming from the alley are the screams of a young woman and the cold laughter of a man as he takes her innocence in a most brutal way.  
>This is not how new life should be concieved, but it was.<p>

...As the Umbilical Cord is cut, a well dressed man enters the delivery room. He pulls the doctor aside and the murmers of conversation can be faintly heard.  
>The woman is unconcious from the pain of childbirth. The man walks out with the doctor. Nurses begin their gossip almost immediately after the door is shut.<br>One swears she heard what was said. The baby will be taken with the man,a man of the government, and the mother will never get to set her gaze upon the beautiful child that she has brought to life.  
>However, she will get to name the girl. Hours later she awakens, is told to sign a paper, and name her baby. She is drugged and confused.<br>She choses the name Josephine Ophelia. The baby was soon adopted by a seemingly nice couple by the names of Rita and John Hayworth.


	2. The Sharpest Lives

I suppose you want a character description now don't you? Well, I guess it was inevitable so...here you go.

I have frizzy light brown hair. It is like an afro, I mean seriously, it sucks! My eyes are the only part of myself that I genuinely like. They are the grey green colour of the ocean on a stormy day. I have thick dark eyelashes that frame them. I am mature for my age. I am five feet and two inches tall with a bust that is classified as a large B-cup. I wear glasses, always have always will, they are kind of a security blanket for me. I am a bit of a chunky monkey and I hate that about myself, I always have. Well, there you go, a description of the eleven-year-old me. I hope you're happy. Now, onward with the story of my life. Well, my life through my first year of Hogwarts that is.

I am, as you know, adopted. I hate my 'parents', John and Rita Hayworth, they are vile people. John, or 'daddy' as he like to be called, is disgusting. He beats me and hurts me in more private ways. I cannot go to sleep at night without the fear that tonight may be one of his bad nights when he comes in and takes out his pent up anger on me. Rita is no better what with her ranting and name-calling. Her favourite name for me is 'lardass.' She knows of what her husband does to me, but she just thinks it is funny and sometimes watches him beat me. The only light in my life is my best mate Andie Rodriguez. She has been my rock since I was in the first grade and she moved here to Ireland form Spain. She knows all about my home life and I know about her's. She is not abused, but she is overlooked, a treatment that can oftentimes hurt more than physical abuse. Her father is never happy with anything she does, even though she is as close to perfect as a girl can get. Her mother loves her dearly, but finds it hard to give her the needed attention what with Andie's brother and sister running around willy nilly. Andie is a steadfast friend and is turning eleven in May. We go to public school together and by some strange fate, we have always been in the same class. Thank goodness too because she has helped me cover up many a bruise and made up excuses when I couldn't make it to school. We also have quite a bit of fun pulling pranks on our taunting classmates and prickley teachers. Water balloons, itching powder, the usual elementary pranks. Now that you know a little about my backstory, I will move on to how I came to be at Hogwarts.


	3. Look Alive, Sunshine

**Authors Note: I must apologize for uploading this chapet again. I realized today that I had originally posted the unedited version. I am so sorry! I will try to do better next time. I also would like to apologize for not updating for so long between the first post and the second. I had severe writer's block and laziness. In the future I shall try my hardest to update weekly or bi-weekly. I would like tp thank those of you who have followed or favourited this story, you rock! I would also like to profusely thank my only reviewer, reBEllS14. You rock Mars Bar! Oh, also I would appreciate if you checked out her story, 'Her Eyes'. It is a gret Avatar: The Last Airbender story! Thank you for hopefully making it through this long ramble of an A/N:))**

Chapter 2

"Get in here you little brat!", yelled John Hayworth.

Ugh, I was still asleep when I received this rude, but not uncommon awakening. Still in a haze, I got up, dressed, and made my way upstairs from my basement abode.

I took in my surroundings for a quick moment. The carpet was an ugly mustard yellow and the walls avocado green. The small two bedroom house was in a nice suburban neighborhood just outside of London. Neighbours would talk if they knew what really went on in the Hayworth household, but they don't. They think that Rita and John are angels for adopting little Josephine when she was just a newborn.

"It's a pity and a sin that she doesn't quite fit in, but she really is a funny girl.", this is commonly said when the neighborhood hags get together for tea.

Any who, back to the problem at hand. During my little daydream I missed my 'parents' yelling at me the pay attention to them, so what jolted me out of this daze was a swift slap across my cheek. I stayed silent having learned that speaking during a beating only makes them angrier.

"You got something in the mail. Why anyone would send you anything is beyond me.", screeched Rita.

'Hmm,' I thought. 'This is strange, she's right who would send me anything?'

Taking the letter I said my thanks then asked if I could go to my room. I was told yes, but I better not try to sneak out again. After I assured them I would not be attempting escape, I retreated to my room. I through myself across my 'bed', which was really just a grungy old mattress on the concrete floor of the small unfinished basement. Examining the letter I discovered a wax seal like you read about in books. It was so beautiful that I almost didn't want to break it, but ultimately my curiosity overruled this feeling and I opened it. Inside there was a long piece of...parchment? That was weird, who used parchment anymore? The letter was addressed to

Ms. J Hayworth

The nasty little basement, 2134 Alexander's Grove Lane

London, England

Hogwarts School

of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms. Hayworth,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Hogwarts School

of Witchcraft and Wizardry

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

sets of plain work robes (black)

plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)

by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi

by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection

by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring and owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

After reading this my first thought was, "This has to be some sort of joke the Hayworth's are playing on me. It just has to. I can take the beatings and name calling, but this is just too much. I have to see Andie as soon as possible!", so I quickly devised a way to break my promise and sneak out of the house. After sneaking out through the back door(I mean really, those two must have bowling balls for brains), I ran two blocks to Andie's large two story house. I was now faced with the dilemma of getting in the house without her parents knowing seeing as it was ten o'clock at night. I picked up a light stick, so as not to break her window, and tossed it up to get her attention. After waiting a smidge, Andie came to the window sporting her attempt at a scowl.

"What do you want Jo?"

"I need to come up right this instant!", was my fervently whispered reply.

"Fine, let me open the side door for you. Be quiet!"

I walked with as much stealth as I could muster in such a dire situation as this one. By the time I arrived at the door Andie was there, waiting for me.

" Come on in and be quick about it. We'll go up to my room and talk in the closet."

I silently followed her up the stairs leading to all of the childrens' rooms, three in total. Upon arrival, I sat down in her large closet and began my newest tale of woe. Finishing this tale with,

"And that is why I am here in your closet when we both should be in bed."

Andie was silent for a moment, then quickly got up, left the closet, and returned momentarily with an oddly familiar letter clutched in her hand.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes, I received a letter of acceptance to this Hogwarts as well."

"This is bloody insane Andie! Now those bastards are taunting you too? I can't take this much longer!" I exploded.

"Shh, calm down Josephine! I do not think that this is a joke. You seem to have forgotten that your 'parents' do not even know that I exist let alone that we are best friends. I think that these letters are real. As soon as I found the letter in my mail box I went to the library and did some research. Apparently, there is a small group of people that believe in wizardry and it is said that Hogwarts is a school for young Witches and Wizards to train. I think that we are wizards Josie, I really do."

I was dumbstruck, but of coarse that only lasted for a moment before I replied.

"If we really are wizards then why have we not noticed, and why are we the only ones in our families?" I asked in what I thought of as my 'duh' voice.

"Well, I think that I am an abnormality, which has been documented, according to my research I would be called a 'Muggle Born'. Muggle is what they call non-magical humans. You, my dear Josephine, are most likely a half-wizard. You do not know who your real parents are, therefore, I believe that either your mother or your father is, or was, a wizard. We are truly different, just like we always said we were!"

" Even if we really are witches, how will we get to this school and where will we acquire the necessary items to attend. I don't know about you, but I have never seen cauldrons, or wands, or any of those books they mentioned in the letter. I don't have any money either, and that brings us to another point, our parents. They don't know anything about this as far as we know. Don't you think they would have told us by now if they knew we were wizards? Well, maybe not mine, but definitely yours. What do you have to say to that?"

"My parents are aware of my research and letter and have told me that there has always been a rumour that somewhere down the line, many centuries ago, there was a wizard in my family, a White Wizard whatever that means. My mother has accepted this as fact, but my father thinks me a freak. After a long, drawn out argument, his desire for everyone in the family to be the best won over his doubt, and I was permitted to attend if I can find the needed materials."

"Well, that's wicked, but how will you get these materials and how will I even get permission?"

"We will just have to think and I am sure we can figure out a solution."

After Andie said this we fell into a somewhat uncomfortable silence, each trying to think of a solution to this problem. Minutes felt like hours and at around eleven o'clock, there was a knock on the window. We both jolted violently at this soft sound that, in our silence, sounded like a jackhammer. Leaving the closet we ventured to the window only to see and owl with some sort of paper in his break. However odd it seemed, it was the most normal thing that had happened to us that night, so we let it in Andie's room. It nipped my hand until I opened it and then it placed the paper in my palm, hooted, and left. The letter was addressed to Ms. J Hayworth and Ms. A Rodriguez, The abnormally large closet of Ms. Rodriguez, 8491 Livermore Avenue, London, England. It was strange how our letters form earlier and now were addressed to exactly where we were at the moment, but that was just more madness to add to our new discovery. The letter was from the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. It read:

Dear Young Misses,

I have just come to the startling realization that the both of you must be rather skeptical about the letters you received earlier. I must apologize for the callous way I have handled this situation. In this letter I have enclosed all that is necessary for you to purchase your supplies. An employee of sorts will be at Ms. Rodriguez's house to escort you to Diagon Alley, where he will help you shop and acquaint you with the wizarding world. I will assume that you will tell your escort if you do not wish to attend Hogwarts, though I am sure you will make the right decision. The same escort will take you to the train station the day you shall depart for the beginning of term.

Sincerely,

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

"Well," I said, "I guess this solves our problem."

"Yeah, I guess it does."


	4. Thank You For The Venom

**A/N: Hello peoples! Whazzz up? Just kidding(I'm not **_**that **_**annoying!). Well, I do not really have much to say in this note, but I would like to briefly plead for mercy. I am writing all of this on WordPad and it has no spellchecker! I am running it through my email's but I may occasionally miss a few errors. I apologize ahead of time. Thank you:))**

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><p>I fell asleep last night with a smile, and awoke this morning with the very same smile. This has never happened. I dressed quickly and walked as calmly as possible up the dingy stairs into the house's kitchen. The sun was shining gloriously through the dusty pimento curtains. I danced my way into the living room only to be greeted with the not so glorious shout of, " Hey, you little brat, stop dancing and get your fat arse to cleaning!" Rita really does have a way with words. After cleaning the house in record time I asked, neigh begged, for permission to go to the library. John said it would cost me later, but I could go. I was willing to put up with the 'cost' because it was pretty much inevitable either way. After packing my rucksack, I high-tailed it out of that hell-hole.<p>

On my way to Andie's for our magical rendezvous, I encountered an alarmingly tall man with the beginnings of a beard. He was walking along the sidewalk in the thundering manner of a giant. 'Hmm', I thought to myself, 'I wonder if this is the "employee" Mr. Dumbledore said he was sending. Only one way to find out. "Hello sir, how do'ya do?" I asked in a seemingly confident tone. The big oaf just peered over at me with a weariness I was accustomed to. I decided that maybe he was not the man I thought him to be. I trailed silently behind him all the way to Andie's. He stopped and looked up at the house, then at me. I smiled shyly, hoping that this meant my original assessment was indeed right. It was. "Hullo Miss, are you Josephine Hayworth?" Asked the friendly giant of a man. I full-out grinned and replied, "Why yes, yes I am and this is the house of Andrea Rodriguez." He said he would properly introduce himself once we acquired Andie.

I walked up the the door and rang the bell. Seconds later the door was flung open by a rather flushed Andie. "So sorry it took me so long, I was brushing my hair." Classic Andie, thinking she was late when she was early. Teasing her I said, " It's about time you got here you slacker!" This received a hearty glare. After our little greeting she walked out the door and greeted the giant man. He introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid, junior groundskeeper in training, of Hogwarts. Ah, so that's what Dumbledore meant by "an employee of sorts."

Well, he seemed nice enough and I was ready to get a move on so I said, "Well, let's get a move on. How exactly will we be traveling to the store and what kind store will we be traveling to that has wizarding stuff?" He told us that we would have to go to a secret place named Diagon Alley, in order to get our supplies. An alley seems like an odd place for a store, but nothing has been exactly normal lately so I didn't question it. The answer to my question of transportation was a motorcycle with a sidecar. "I call the sidecar!" I yelled whilst running to the vehicle.

After sorting out the seating arrangements, we were off. About thirty minutes later we arrived at a pub. "Are you sure this is the place?" asked Andie wearily. He said he was sure. We walked into the fine establishment and our burly friend was greeted by the bar tender, "Hagrid, my favourite customer. Would you like your usual?" This caused Hagrid to erupt in one of the reddest blushes I have ever seen. "N-no Tom, this is official Hogwarts business." he stuttered his reply. Hearing this, Tom led us to the back of the pub into a separate room with a brick wall. After saying his thanks Hagrid pulled out a stick and began prodding the wall. Soon, the wall began to open up and we were greeted with the sight of a bustling street. 'Must have been a wand." I whispered to Andie.

Hagrid steered us into the crowd and told us to follow him to the bank. Andie made a transaction with the ugly old goblins and exchanged her muggle money for wizard money. I began to panic, realizing that I had no money, muggle or wizard. Hagrid, seeing my distress kindly pulled me aside and informed me that, under the circumstances, the staff had taken up a collection in order to pay for my supplies. I was embarrassed but grateful and said my thanks, reminding myself to thank everyone once I arrived at the school.

Next was Ollivander's. Inside was cramped with boxes and boxes of what appeared to be wands. "Oh my, who do we have here?" Came the slightly crazed voice of an eccentric looking old man. "This is Josephine Hayworth and Andrea Rodriguez, Mr. Ollivander. Dumbledore sent me to help the get their school supplies. They need wands." At hearing this the old man's eyes lit up and began buzzing around his shop bringing box upon box over to me and Andie. "Pick a wand and give it a flick."

I stepped up before Andie and chose a large, lumpy one. Flick. That little flick made a vase explode and I readied myself for a beating or berating. The crazy old bloke just handed me another and said, "Very good Josephine, very good." Four wands and four explosions later and I finally saw my wand. It was beautiful. It was a silvery purple wood with intricate carvings of vines all along the length of it. As soon as I touched it I knew it was 'the one'. It blew my hair back and with a flick I healed all of the mess I had made earlier. "My, my we have quite the little witch here Hagrid." I blushed and handed him back the wand. "This wand, your wand, is very rare. It has a core of Boomslang Venom and is made from Ivy, it is 8 and 3/4 inches long. Seems that you won't be very tall m'dear." he said with such chipperness that I let the short comment go. "Now it's Andie's turn!" I yelled excitedly. Andie ended up with a Birch wand with a Unicorn hair core, and on her first try too! It was just a little bit longer than mine at 9 and 1/2 inches.

After saying our farewells to Mr. Ollivander, we went to buy our robes. Hagrid left us in the capable hands of the shop lady and told us he would be back in thirty minutes. After getting our robes we waited out front for him. He was a few minutes late, but he was there and that is all that really mattered. We went to Flourish and Blotts for our actual school supplies.

Finally we went to the pet shop. Andie got and brown owl, so she could send home letters. I got a black cat because I really like their sauciness and I have never had a pet, so I wanted to get the cuddliest one possible. Andie named her female owl Guinevere and I named my male cat Harold because it sounded like the name of a pudgy old father, and I liked the thought of that. Hagrid told us that we made fine choices and he would be back in two days time to take us to the Hogwarts Express. He dropped us off at Andie's house and we said goodbye.

I went to Andie's room with her and hid my purchases in her closet. This had been quite the morning and I had to get 'home' before I got in more trouble than normal. I hugged my best friend goodbye and ran most of the way back(I am rather chunky and can not run that far!). I walked calmly through the front door waiting for the berating to start. "There you are you little bitch! I told you that you could go to the Library not Texas! Get over here and let me teach you a lesson." I walked calmly and donned my emotionless mask reserved only for my 'lessons'.

John beat me until I couldn't see out of one eye and my other eye was bleeding. I think my wrist was fractured and I knew I had a bloody lip. Broken ribs were normal as well. After my first 'lesson', he took me to my room and gave me my second. I do not want to go into detail, but let's just say it was worse than the first, so much worse. I fell asleep to the sound of his laughing as he left the basement. Great way to end the day.


	5. Blood!

**Author's Note: Well, I just realized that I haven't had a disclaimer yet so without further ado...**

**I do not own anything except for my original content and what not.**

I never knew that two measly days could be filled with such agony. After arriving home from the best day of my life, I received my 'lessons' as you know, and the next day was even worse. Rita even joined in on the fun. I was starved, beaten, and assaulted. They had been sent a letter from Hogwarts describing my acceptance and all that entails. John decided to believe it because it meant that they could be rid of me for a while. He and Rita also decided that this meant I would have a memorable farewell. I wore my mask of indifference for the entirety of those two days. I was most concerned with how I would hide my bruises and scars from the world outside of this house. What would Hagrid and Andie say? What would the teachers say? Most of all, what would the other kids say? I would be marked as 'damaged goods' and 'freak' as soon as I set foot on the platform. It would be just like the rest of my life. If they don't outcast me because of my home life, it will be because of my looks, or my shyness around those I don't know (other than Hagrid of course, I could tell he felt the same way). I would just have to accept the stares and jeers. I just hope that Andie isn't brought down with me. I want her to have an enjoyable school experience. Maybe, I can slowly pull away from her and she will be left with her new, better, more popular friends. I was alone before her and I can be alone again if it means her happiness. Well, let's get away from this little pity party. After enduring my last beating until next summer, I took my trunk, walked outside, and waited for my new life.

**Author's Note: Okay, I know that was probably the shortest chapter in the history of the galaxy, but I needed it for a lead into the next chapter.**


	6. House of Wolves

**Author's Note: This chapter should be much longer than the last. It will be the first chapter at Hogwarts! Keep on keepin' on:))**

**I do not own anything except for my original content and what not.**

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Hagrid and Andie came for me. We mounted the motorcycle in the positions we had established during our Diagon Alley adventure, and we were off. Once we reached King's Cross Station, Hagrid led us through the throng of people to a regular looking wall. "Where the bloody hell is Platform 9 and 3/4?" I politely inquired. "Hush, Josephine. But I was about to ask the same thing, just with a little more decorum," was the reply of the ever proper Andrea Rodriguez. "Just run through that wall with your trolley, and you will be there." My only thought before running full speed ahead was 'that giant's bloody bonkers.'

I came to an abrupt stop on the other side, but not before running over some poor bloke. "Shit! Are you okay?" I reached down to my victim to see that it was a girl around my age with long white blond hair and ethereal blue eyes. "Oh, it's no trouble, I'm more concerned with all of the wrackspurts flying around your head." She said in a voice more ethereal than her eyes. Ignoring the strange comment about wrackspurts, I said "I really am sorry, would you like to join me and my friend Andie on the train?" She replied simply with, "Sure, my name's Sapphirre Lovegood." Sapphirre and I moved out of the way so Andie and Hagrid could come through. Andie glided through, graceful as ever and looked around for me. "Over here!" I called. "Hey Josie, who is this?" Andie asked as she politely shook Sapphirre's hand. "This is Sappirre Lovegood, she's going to share a compartment with us." Andie smiled and said, "How lovely. Now, let's get on that train."

After searching tirelessly for an empty compartment, we finally found one towards the back of the train. After settling ourselves into the compartment, we started talking and learned that Sappirre, who goes by Sapph, had a brother in Ravenclaw named Xenophilius. When Andie was in the middle of giving her story, there was a diffident knock on the door. "Come in." Said I, and in came a thin girl with periwinkle hair in a short pixie cut. "Do you mind if I join you? There isn't room anywhere else," was her timid request. "We don't mind at all, have a seat," replied Andie. "I'm Andrea Rodriguez, but you can call me Andie. This is Sapphirre Lovegood, she goes by Sapph. And lastly, that lunatic in the corner is my best friend, Josephine Hayworth, Josie for short. What's your name?" The newest oddity in our compartment replied, "Priscilla Elizabeth Manson, but I prefer Lizzy."

After getting to know each other a little better, a girl with red hair barged in with a greasy looking boy. "Um, excuse me, but why did you just barge, rather rudely I might add, into our compartment?" Asked Andie. "We were trying to escape two terrible boys who made fun of my friend Severus, so excuse me if we were too 'rude' for your liking." The red head replied with an attitude. "Well, you can get out, I don't care if some 'terrible boys' made fun of your greasy friend, he was probably asking for it. You can't just come in here and expect us to help you out when you have an attitude like that." "Well," she huffed, "We will be on our way then." "Geez, she was a bit of a git now wasn't she?" I asked my newly formed group of weirdos. A chorus of agreements greeted me.

Suddenly, Sapphirre jumped up and said, "We are almost there. Put on your robes!" We all scrambled to our trunks and put on our robes. I went to the bathroom to put on mine. Once I got them on, I made sure to check the make up that I had stolen from Rita to hide my bruises with. It was working divinely. I then daydreamed my way back to our compartment, but was rudely interrupted by a two bony things crashing into me. It was two boys, my age by the looks of it. One with long, shaggy, black hair and the other with short, messy black hair that was sticking up in every direction. They were giggling about someone named 'Snivellus', who I guessed was Severus. I stood up and waited for an apology, it never came. I don't even think they noticed that they ran into me. 'Oh, well' I thought, 'Just another moment of invisibility.'

They soon went into a compartment and I resumed my journey. Upon entering the compartment I was greeted with the sight of my friends trying to get Harold to drop Lizzy's pet toad, Warhol. "Harold!" I shouted in alarm. "Drop that amphibian this instant!" He, of course, complied seeing as he is the best cat ever. "Well, now that that little fiasco is done with, I think we have arrived." We all looked out the window, to see if we could catch a glimpse of the castle. No such luck, but we did see the station.

After unloading ourselves and our things, we walked over to Hagrid. "Hello Hagrid, old friend, old pal. How are you doing?" I asked the friendly half-giant. "Very good little Josie, very good. I am here because I have been given the task of taking all of you first years across the Black Lake, into the castle." "YAY!" I shouted, looking at my friends. "Well," I said, "Shall we proceed onward or not?" I guess they chose onward because we were soon loaded into a boat and on our way to the castle. "My brother told me that there is a giant squid in this lake," said Sapphirre. "Oh, that's probably just a load of bull honky!" I scoffed. "See," I said leaning over the side. "There's nothing in the water...SPLASH!" I fell into the bloody lake! "Josephine! Are you okay?" Yelled a worried Andie. "Help me out you wankers!"

Once I was back in the boat, I silently fumed for a few moments until Lizzy poked me on the shoulder and said, "If you would like to stop pouting, I think I see the castle up ahead." Reinvigorated, I looked ahead, and there it was. The most magnificent and amazing thing I have ever seen. Hogwarts Castle. "Wow," was the collective gasp of every first year in the boats. It was so big.

Soon, we were out of the boats and ushered into a large stone room, and greeted by a stern looking woman with her hair in a tight bun. "I am Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor and Transfiguration teacher to all students. Come with me." She led us out into the Great Hall where she told us we would be sorted into our houses alphabetically.

The sorting was very long so I will just highlight a few key people. Sirius Black, the boys with the long hair, was sorted into Gryffindor, as was his messy haired friend, James Potter and two other boys they appeared to be friends with, named Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin. Lily Evans, the rude girl, was sorted into Gryffindor and her greasy friend Severus Snape, was sorted into Slytherin. Lizzy was sorted into Slytherin as well. Sapphirre was placed in Hufflepuff, Andie in Ravenclaw, and then there was me.

I shyly walked up to the hat, not knowing what to expect. Placing the hat upon my frizzy mane, I jumped as it spoke to me. "Oh, dear. It seems that you have had a hard life, a hard life indeed. You are smart, but not enough for Ravenclaw. Kind, but too sarcastic for Hufflepuff. Not cunning or mean enough for Slytherin. It will have to be...Gryffindor!" I quickly walked over to my new house table as everyone applauded politely.

After listening to where my friends were placed, I listened to Dumbledore's speech about rules and whatnot. Turning to the table, I watched in amazment as food appeared out of nowhere. I grabbed some chicken, and what I assumed was potatoes with green beans, but I couldn't bring myself to eat it. I was all alone. My new, and old, friends were all in different houses. 'Oh, well,' I thought, 'at least I won't bring them down. I can just fade into the background and they will forget all about that weird girl they once knew.'

Sighing, I looked around the table to see everyone happily eating and talking. That horrid Lily girl was looking angry while speaking to that rude James Potter. At least someone else wasn't having a great time. That other friend of James and Sirius, oh what was his name? Remus Lupin! That's it. Well, he was sitting next to me and seemed nice enough. I soon began to daydream about my future at Hogwarts, but I was interrupted by Remus Lupin gently poking my arm, gentle as it was, I still winced in pain. He apologised quickly and said, "I didn't mean to hurt you, I was just tyring to tell you that the feast is over and we are about to be led to our house." "Oh," I replied shyly,"Thank you, I don't think anyone else would have told me." He smiled and said "Come on then, I'll make sure you don't get left behind." It's decided, Remus Lupin is my hero!

We were told the password and led to a portrait of a rather large lady dressed in a garish dress. "Oh, look at the little first years! Would you like to hear me sing? I am quite marvelous!" The head boy replied nicely with "I would love to her you sing, but right now I have to show these first years the ropes." "Humph. Well then, password? He gave her the password and we were herded into the most cozy looking room I have ever seen. The head boy, Matthew Wood, informed us of the house rules and all that jazz. A seventh year girl then led us to the first year girl's dorm room. I had to share with Lily Evans, Mary Macdonald, and Alice James. They all ignored me and began gossiping together on what I assumed was Lily's bed. I put my things at the end of the bed furthest from the door and laid down. This was going to be just lovely.

**Authors Note: Whew! That was a long chapter, for me at least. I hope you lot liked it! I am sorry it took me so long to write this one, but I am a lazy bum. I will try to have the next chapter out next week. Thank you for reading:))**


	7. This Is The Best Day Ever

**Author's Note: Hello Dearies, aren't you proud of me? This is actually early instead of late! Oh, and I would like to clarify that this is AU. The future pairings are VERY AU. Well, now that that's over, let's get this show on the road:))**

**I do not own anything except for my original content and what not.**

"Bloody Hell!"

Came the ever so distinguised yell of the one, the only, Miss Joesphine Ophelia Hayworth! This little outburst was due to the abrupt awakening of Josie, when she, gracefully of course, fell out of her bed. 'Why me?' Was her only thought. After getting up off the ground, she looked around and saw that she was alone, her roomates were no where to be seen. Turning to look at the clock, she saw that she was late for breakfast. Speedily dressing and grooming herself, she was ready in under five minutes. Feeling proud of her accomplishment, she sauntered out the door into the common room. Even though she was late, she stopped just to take in the magnificent room. It was so different from home. Nothing was dirty and the decorations were remarkably warm and inviting. 'I guess this is home now,' thought Josephine. Scampering out the portrait hole, she soon arrived in the Great Hall, after a few detours.

Walking in she noticed that every table was chock full of students, even her own house table. The only spot left was next to Remus Lupin. 'That's not so bad, thought Josie, 'He was nice to me yesterday.' Walking up to the table, she timidly asked

"May I sit here?"

This earned her the warm look of Remus Lupin who relpied, "Of course you may."

After thanking him, Josie took in her surroundings. Across from her was Peter Pettigrew, next to him was James Potter, and on the other side of Remus was Sirius Black. Lily and her other roomates were at the other end of the table. Slowly filling her plate with food, Josie prayed that no one would notice the large amount, seeing as she didn't eat dinner the night before. She didn't want anyone to make a fat joke on her first day.

Apparently she didn't pray quickly enough seeing as James Potter was eyeing her plate amusedly. "A little hungry aren't we now, piggy?" He and Sirius then proceeded to make very convincing pig sounds. I just ignored them and continued eating, though my appetite had disolved somewhat. Remus just looked at them with a dissaproving glare. He then looked at Josphine with a look that said, to her at least, that he did not want to lose his new friends by standing up for a stranger. She understood, at least he wasn't joining in like everyone at her old school would. She would just have to put up with it as always was the case.

Soon after eating, their head of house came over to the table and began handing out timetables. Josephine looked at hers and saw that she had Double Herbology with Hufflepuff then Transfiguration with Hufflepuff followed by Lunch, after Lunch she had Defense Against the Dark Arts with Hufflepuff then a few hours of free time until flying lessons and after that was dinner. That was tomorrow's schedule as well, but with the addition of Astronomy later in the night. 'Whew!' Thought Josephine, 'That is quite a load. I just hope that I don't pass out from all the learning. At least I have all my classes with Sapphirre today! Speak of the devil', Sapphirre came skipping up to Josephine and ethereally giggled, "Look Josie, we have all day together! Yay, hehehehe." Josephine had never been so happy to have a friend in every house, even though they were all weirdos, including Andie and herself, they were a regular group of misfits. Coming out of her little thought bubble Josephine looked at Sapphirre and said, "Let's get a move on, I don't want to be late to Herbology seeing as it's outside." And with that, they were off.

Arriving at Herbology ten minutes early, the two girls chose two seats next to eachother and waited for everyone else to arrive. "Hello, girls. How are you doing today?" asked a chipper Professor Sprout. "Teriffically fantastic, professor!" Was Sapphirre's dreamy response. "Good, well it looks like the rest of the class is about to be here." As soon as Professor Sprout finnished saying this, James Potter, and the rest of his little group, ran through the door to the greenhouse followed by the other Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first years. The only other first year boy in Gryffindor was Frank Longbottom, a quiet boy with a friendly, round face. Frank sat next to Josephine and offered a friendly smile. Class began and nothing worth speaking of happened, just the usual first day spiel.

Frank walked with Sappirre and Josephine to Transfiguration, the group spoke quietly the entire way, only interrupted once by the ever so loud James and Sirius.

"I swear, those boys are the most obnoxious people at this school!" I whipspered to Frank and Sapphirre.

"I share a room with them and they completely ignore me, well except for Remus. He's pretty nice." shared Frank.

"I agree about the Remus thing, but he isn't perfect that's for sure. This morning at breakfast James and Sirius made fun of me and Remus just sat there. I understand though, he doesn't want to rock the boat with his new friends. Even though I understand, it still hurts."

Frank frowned when I told him this, but it was quickly replaced with a smile, "We can be friends Josephine. I'll stick up for you and you can stick up for me, okay?" Josephine stopped walking.

"You mean you actually want to be friends with me?" She asked with a shocked expression.

"Why wouldn't I?" was the curious reply of Frank.

"You're the first person that has ever asked to be friends with _me_. I mean I have been friend's with Andrea Rodriguez, a Ravenclaw, for years, and I have quickly become friends with Saphhirre and Lizzy, a Slytherin, but no one has ever _asked_ me to be friends with them. This is amazing!"

"So, I'm going to assume that meant yes."

Josephine offered a wide smile and said, "Of course it means yes!"

The two smiled at eachother, then at Sappirre who, in turn, smiled back, and the newly befriended group arrived at Transfiguration. Walking into the room, they chose seats next to eachother, with Josephine in between Frank and Sappirre.

"Hello class, I am Professor McGonagall and this is Transfiguration. Today we will be discussing what will happen throughout the rest of the year."

Fourty five minutes later McGonagall released them with a warning to be prepared for class tomorrow because they would be working. Josie and her friends walked to the Grat Hall for lunch. Once inside, Sapphirre said her goodbyes and joined her house table. Frank and Josephine walked to the Gryffindor table and sat down as far away from Frank's roommates as possible. After loading their plates with food, they settled into a comfortable silence as they began eating. Around the middle of lunch Frank asked Josephine if she "had a nickname" to which she replied, "Josie, what a bout you?" Frank thought for a moment and said "Well, my mum calls me Frankie, but I guess you can just call me Frank, I don't like Frankie very much." "Okay, Frank it is."

After that exchange they went back to eating until lunch was over. They then joined Sapphirre once again and began the trek to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"I wonder what the professor will be like. My brother said that there is a new professor every year for this class. It's cursed." said Sapphirre.

"I've heard that too." offered Frank.

"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out." replied Josephine as she grabbed the arms of her companions and walked into the classroom. Upon entering the room they looked everywhere for a professor, not seeing one, the sat down in the same fashion as in Transfiguration with Josephine in the middle. When eveyone else had arrived, aside from James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, the teacher walked in. He was a young man with dark brown hair and grey eyes. He looked over the class and offered a friendly smile.

"Hello class, my name is Alexander Paraguin and I am your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. This is my first year teahing, but I have been an Auror for ten years." This was met by a chorus of oohs and ahhs.

"Today I would like for us to go around the class and introduce ourselves. Let's start with you." He pointed at Frank. Shyly, Frank stood and said "Frank Longbottom, Gryffindor."

"Very good, and you?" He looked at Josephine. As Josephine blushingly began to stand up, she was interrupted by four red-faced boys bursting into the room, laughing.

"Excuse me boys, but may I inquire as to why you are late to my class?"

"Well, professor, we got a little bit...lost on the way here." supplied James confidently.

"Very well, seeing as it is the first day, I won't give you a detention. Sit down, we are introducing ourselves. Go ahead darling, finish introducing yourself." Josephine blushed a red that would put Hagrid to shame when he said 'darling,' but stood up regardless.

"My name is Josephine Hayworth and I..." Josephine was interrupted by a surprisingly pig-like sound coming from the back of the room, James Potter.

"Mr..."

"Potter sir."

"Yes, Mr. Potter. Would you care to share with us why you are making those sounds while the rest of the class was trying to listen to Miss. Hayworth."

"Well, I was being funny. So, I made pig sounds. You know, because she looks like a pig."

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for making fun of a housemate."

"But professor!"

"No buts about it Mr. Potter. One more word out of you and I will give you that detention. Now, Josephine, would you like to finish what you were saying?"

"I was just going to say that I am from Gryffindor, professor." She diffidently whispered.

"Okay, let's move on class."

After Sapphirre came two Hufflepuffs, Lily, Mary, Alice, six more Hufflepuffs, then James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. James introduced them all as the 'Marauders.' They all grinned wildly when he said this. By the time everyone was finished introducing theirselves, class was over.

"Okay class. I will see you all tomorrow. Miss Hayworth, Mr. Potter, will you please stay after for a moment."

James and Josephine walked quickly up to the professor's desk and waited expectantly for him to begin speaking.

"I am sure you know why you are here. I would like to know why, Mr. Potter, you were so bluntly rude to Miss Hayworth."

"I don't know." mumbled James. "I thought it was funny."

"Well, you thought wrong James. I would like you to apologize to Josephine."

"He doesn't need to do that Professor. He was just telling the truth. You can't punish the truth." said Josephine.

James and Professor Paraguin just looked at her, shocked.

"May I leave now?"

"Yes, I guess. You may leave Josephine."

"Thank you." She said, scurrying out the door leaving two very confused males behind her.

When Josephine was out of the room she looked around, only to be surprised by seeing Frank waiting for her. "Hey Josie, was that about Potter?" he asked with a frown on his face. "Yes, but I handled it. Let's go to the common room to hang out before our Flying Lesson." Frank agreed and they set out to the common room. On the way up they heard something that sounded like a girl crying. Looking around for the girl they spotted her sitting against the wall with her face in her hands. "Are you okay?" asked Josephine gently. The girl looked up at the sound of Josephine's voice. It was Lizzy!

"Oh my good gravy! Lizzy, what's wrong?"

"Oh Josephine! I am so glad you're here! I have had classes with Andie, but I have had a terrible day otherwise. The Slytherin's hate me because I'm half-blood. I am one of the only non-pureblood's sorted into Slytherin this year. The only person that hasn't been mean to me is Severus Snape, Lily's friend, and he has just ignored me. I hate it here, I wanna go home!"

"Calm down Lizzy, we've all had bad days. Come along with Frank and I. We can all go outside to hang out and talk about everything, okay?"

"Okay."

Walking back down the stairs, the threesome ventured outside, through the main door, onto Hogwart's grounds. They walked over to sit under a large tree by the lake.

"So Lizzy, before we start our little discussion, I would like to introduce you to my friend Frank. Frank, this is Lizzy. Lizzy this is Frank. Sapphirre has already met him. He' s really nice and cool."

"Hello Lizzy."

"Hello Frank."

"Well, now that that's over, let's get to talking! So, what do you think you can do to be happier Lizzy?"

"I guess I could try to talk to Severus, and I could spend as much time as possible with you, Andie, Sapphirre and Frank."

"Good idea. Don't you agree Frank?"

"I concur vehemently Josephine."

"How was your day Josie?" asked Lizzy.

"Ugh, don't get me started Lizzy! First off, I woke up late after not one of my lovely roommates decided to wake me up. Then at breakfast James Potter and Sirius Black called me a pig and made noises. Sapphirre and I then walked to Herbology where we met Frankie here...I mean Frank, sorry." Corrected Josie after recieving a hearty glare from said person. "After Herbology, we all went to Transfiguration which went fine, then came DADA. The Professor introduced himself and had us all introduce ourselves. When I was about to start my introduction, the 'marauder' as they now call themselves, burst in and ended up sitting in the back. When I began speaking again, James started making pig noises again and called me fat. He got in trouble and that's about it." I said in one long breath.

"Wow." was all Lizzy said. Frank just sat there with a look of amazement on his pleasantly round face, clearly he was impressed with my speed-speaking skills. After that we just hung out and talked about ourselves for an hour before we headed off to Flying Class. Every first-year had this class together, so we were very excited. Upon arriving, we introduced Andie and Frank, who got on smashingly I might add. Soon enough after we arrived, Madam Hooch introduced herself and we began our lesson. Frank, Sapphirre and I all caught on pretty quickly, along with James, and several other kids. Andie, Lizzy, Remus, Sirius, Peter and most everyone else was flying within about twenty minutes. Lily was the last person to get in the air. It was hilarious, to Josephine at least.

Before long dinner was upon them, Frank and Josie ended up having to sit closer to the Marauder's than they would have wanted. Dinner was pretty uneventful, aside from several glares from Sirius and curious looks from James and Remus. Frank and Josephine finished eating, then took a leisurely stroll up to the common room. They were worn out after such a long day. Collapsing on the big, comfy couch they talked fro about an hour before reluctantly saying goodnight and going to their unwelcoming rooms.

When Josephine entered her room she was greeted with a pitying look from Alice, a smirk from Lily, and a look of indifference from Mary. Josephine went to the bathroom, got ready for bed, and retired to her bed. She fell to sleep quickly, even though it was still early, and slept contentedly the morning when she woke up on time, met Frank and set off, ready to start a new day.


	8. Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back

**Author's Note: Hola personas! Please ignore my terrible Spanish. I am writing this early and will probably post this early, so if there's anyone out there(other than my best-friends) you're in luck! I have recently realized that if I continue going at this rate during the story, it will be a freaking novel before I even get to second year. So, I am attempting to quicken the pace, but it will be an up-hill struggle seeing as I do not even know what is going to happen in the immediate future of the story. I apologize for any errors ahead of time. Please inform me if there is anything that you believe is inaccurate. Reviews are appreciated, no matter the type, just try not to be unnecessarily mean please:))**

After three full weeks at Hogwarts, Josie and her gang of misfits had gotten into the swing of things. Frank and Josie spent all of their time together and he had become a forever friend of all of the girls. Lizzy was still having trouble with the other students, particularly the older kids. She tried to make friends with Snape, but he was unsociable enough as it was without the added distaste he carried for a friend of Josephine. He and Lily had formed a hatred for the girl ever since the first day on the train. Andrea was loving the challenge that Ravenclaw provided. She loved being the smartest witch in her year, even above Lily. Andie and Sapphirre's brother had struck up a nice friendship and she got along well enough with the other girls in her room. Sapphirre was well, Sappirre. It was hard not to love the dreamy Hufflepuff. Josephine was still having a bullying problem. The Marauders were actually kind of torn. James and Sirius liked making fun of her, but so did Snape and they didn't want to have anything in common with their arch rival. They had settled on only making fun of her at meals and during classes, outside of those was Snape's territory. This brings us to the chilled morning of the twenty-third of September, a Thursday. Josephine is just waking up, in her bed for once...

"Arghuhhhhaguugh," yawned Josephine whilst giving a catlike stretch. Speaking of cats 'where is Harold? This was Josie's first thought after waking. It had been three weeks since she had begun her new life at Hogwarts.

"Meoooooowwwwwww!" Came the needy call of Harold the cat.

"What in the hell do you want Harold?"

"Mrowwww!"

"Okay, geez, calm yourself. I'll get you some milk or something., you crazy bugger" Josephine set out into the early morning of Hogwarts. She would be back later for Frank, perhaps once the sun rises, yes that sounded like a plan. Walking down the hall in her dreamlike state, Josephine hadn't noticed that she wasn't alone in the seemingly empty halls. There was, in fact, another Gryffindor first-year by the name of Remus Lupin. He was just watching in curious silence as Josephine drifted down the hall, in an unknown direction, muttering things to herself every so often. All of the sudden she shouted,

"I figured it out!"

'Figured what out', wondered Remus. Oddly enough, she continued speaking aloud.

"I must venture out unto the great unknown and seek out the council of cows, in order to uncover the hidden valley of milk. Then, and only then, can I return home and be crowned "Queen Josephine, saver of pudgy cats from hunger!"

'This girl is crazy!' Thought Remus, 'I need to learn more about her.' He continued following her as she wondered aimlessly, or so it seemed, through the quiet castle. 'She is rather unobservant,' thought Remus, 'if she has still not noticed that someone is following her. That, or I am just the best spy ever...it's probably the second one.' Josephine then came to an abrupt stop, and Remus not being prepared for this, nearly stumbled into her.

"I know someone's there, but you obviously aren't a threat, or you would have attacked me already."

Remus sheepishly emerged from the shadows and received a inquiring look from Josie.

"Why have you been following me, we barely even know each other? James and Sirius will be quite upset when they find out that you had the opportunity to prank me, yet passed it down." Remus instantly felt bad for not doing anything to help this girl when his friends had bullied her.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not stopping them when they make fun of you and prank you. I'm no better than them."

"What's done is done, and you really aren't as bad as them. I mean, you have never personally hurt me. It doesn't even bother me that much when they do that stuff. It's better than physically hurting me, now isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess, but it still isn't right."

"Is anything truly 'right' in this world?"

"I...um...I guess not."

'Wow,' thought Remus, 'this girl is much more than meets the eye.'

"Well, now that we have had our philosophy lesson for today, would you like to tell me why you are out this early in the morning?" asked Josephine.

"I could ask you the same question."

"Touche. I am out looking for the kitchens, so I can get my cat, Harold, some milk."

"I was on my way to the kitchens for some pudding, for reasons that I cannot share."

"Okay, well can you show me where the kitchens are?"

"I guess so, but you can't let anyone else know. Okay?"

"Okee Dokee Artichokee!" She said with a smile. Remus just shook his head and led the way to the kitchens. When they arrived at the fruit portrait, he was about to tell Josephine to tickle the pair when he looked over to see her already tickling the apple.

"Umm Josephine, what in the name of Merlin's gray beard are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm tickling this apple. Everyone knows that apples love to be tickled." She said in her 'duh' voice.

"Try ticking the pear." Suggested a dumbstruck Remus.

"Seems crazy, but okay." Josephine reached out to tickle the pear. As soon as her finger touched the pear, the duo heard a giggle. Wide-eyed, Josephine looked in front of her only to see a kitchen, full of little creatures, in place of the wall that had previously been occupying the spot. After acquiring their respective items, they headed back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye. Don't worry, I won't try to talk to you like we're friends or anything. Can I just ask one tiny favor? Be nice to Frank. He's one of the all around best people I've ever met, and I hate seeing him stuck with me all of the time. He deserves to have better friends, like you guys. Can you at least _try_ to include him a bit more?" Remus just stared at her. He couldn't believe that she thought so low of herself. He made a vow to himself then and there, that he would be nicer to her and try to convince the other Marauders to lighten up a little.

"I will definitely try to include Frank more. To be honest, I didn't even realize that we were ignoring him. He's not in the room very much and I just never really noticed."

"Thank you Remus," and with that she began climbing the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

"Oh, and Josephine? I won't let you put yourself down that easily. There will be some major changes in the near future." Josephine just shook her head and continued into her room. Remus was left standing at the base of the boy's stairs with a look of determination on his face. He would make a difference in her life.


	9. I'm Not Okay I Promise

**Authors Note: I hope you weren't too weirded out by that last chapter. It was very late when I wrote it and I just went a little crazy, but I liked it:))**

**I do not own anything except for my original content and what not.**

Remus P.O.V

Soon after Remus made his vow, he tried to put it into effect.

"Listen James, all I'm saying is to _try_ to be nicer to Josephine. Is that so hard?"

"Yes, it is actually." pouted James.

"Arghhhhhhh!" grumbled Remus. He knew that if he could get James to agree to be nice to Josephine, then Peter and Sirius would follow along, reluctantly, but never the less follow.

"Please, give it a try. She is really funny and nice. I don't even understand _why _you started making fun of her in the first place."

"Isn't it kind of obvious? She's fat, therefor she is a prime candidate for teasing. It's not like it'_s_ doing any real damage."

"I'm ashamed that you would pick so petty a reason to be mean to her. She never did anything to you, and yet you make her life even more miserable than it already is with Snape and who knows what else."

"Well, I guess I never really thought that it would really hurt her feelings. It was just a bit of fun." said james guiltily.

"Well you thought wrong James. Her only friend in Gryffindor is Frank Longbottom, who by the way, is our roommate that we have ignored fully."

"I forgot that he was our roommate! Shit, now I feel bad."

"You feel worse for excluding Frank than you do for making fun of Josephine?" asked Remus exasperatedly.

"I guess when you put it that way it makes me sould like a giant wanker, doesn't it?"

"Yes James, it does."

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to stop being mean to her and focus all of our efforts on Snivellus."

"There you go James, it wasn't that hard now was it?"

"No, I guess not." And with that, they were off to wake up Sirius and Peter for breakfast.

Josephine P.O.V

After waking up on the floor yet again, Josephine readied herself and went down to the common room to wait for Frank. Sitting in her favourite chair by the fire, she sarted day-dreaming about what her life would be like if she had known her real parents. While she was in this dreamstate, someone walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. It was James Potter. Startled, Josephine jumped up and waited for James to hex her with some silly first-year hex. When nothing came, she opened her eyes to see him, and the other marauders, standing there looking at her like she was crazy.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" demanded Josephine.

"What do you mean?" inquired James.

"What I mean is why haven't done anything to me yet? Why are you just standing there?"

"We came here to apologize."

"What? Why?"

"Well, Moony over here called the fact that we were being tossers to attention."

"Umm, okay...so what happens now?"

"I guess we'll just go on like normal, just without the rudeness towards you. Hey, we might even help you out when Snape is being even more jerky than usual."

"Well thanks, I guess. Umm, see you later? I'm waiting for Frank to come down so we can go to breakfast."

"Okay, see you then Josephine." said Remus, stepping in when there was an awkward silence.

"See ya." The marauders shuffled out as quickly as possible, eager to get away from that awkward conversation. 'That was odd and uncomfortable and I never want to go through that again' thought Josephine. Josephine continued to ponder this curious new development while awaiting Frank. Soon enough though he came down apologizing for his lateness. She assured him that it was okay and began rehashing what had just happened between her and the boys.

"So they really said that?" he asked in amazement.

"I was just as unbelieving as you. It was surreal." Moments later they reached the Great Hall and before entering Josie leanded over to Frank and asked,

"What day is it Frank?"

"Friday."

"YES!" yelled Josephine. Fridays were the days that **all** first years had classes together. Making their way to the table they sat down with Frank in-between Lily and Peter, and Joesphine next to James(awkward) and Alice. Frank and Josie shared a look across the table and began eating. In the middle of a glare-off between Lily and Josephine, Snape approached the table with a sneer.

"Lily, what are you doing sitting next to such filth?"

"Hey! Frank is the best person I know! You have no right to talk about him like that." Yelled Josephine.

"I was not talking about Longbottom, you disgusting girl. I was talking about you and the 'marauders.'

"Oh, so now I'm disgusting? What about you, you greasy git? Have you ever even washed your hair?"

"Well at least he doesn't wear make-up to try to hide like you do. You cake that stuff on like you think it will help that disaster area you call a face, well guess what, it doesn't." snarled Lily.

"You think you know everything Lily Evans, but you really don't know anything! Did you ever think that there could be another reason? No, you didn't because you are a mean and terrible person." Josephine ran off so nobody would see her cry, leaving behind five bewildered Gryffindor boys and one very smug Slytherin boy. Lily felt guilty, but she had only been sticking up for her best friend, at least, that's what she tried to convince herself of. Frank hurridly told Andie, Lizzy, and Sappirre about what happened and watched as Andie told the others that she "would handle this one" and walked out of the Great Hall.

"Josie!" called Andie, hoping to catch up with her before she got to the Gryffindor common room.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, you don't have to talk about it. I just wanted to let you know that I'm here for you, so are Frank, Sapphirre, and Lizzy. I also thought that I would inform you that James and his friends hexed the snot out of Snape."

"They did?"

"Yes, they did."

"Well that doesn't mean anything, I mean they always do that stuff to Snape. It wasn't even him that upset me, it was Lily. She make a comment about my face make-up, she said "You cake that stuff on like you think it will help that disaster area you call a face, well guess what, it doesn't." She doesn't even know me or my life. She makes me so mad."

"I think it might help you if I wasn't the only one who knew about your home life Josie. Maybe you could tell they girls and Frank, that way they won't be so left in the dark and can help you when I'm not close by."

"I don't know, maybe I'll tell Frank since I'm around him the most. I guess it could be helpful when things like this happen in a class or something. I'm not going to tell him about John's 'lessons' though, that's just too personal."

"I understand. Now, would you like to go back to the Great Hall and finish breakfast?"

"Okay." reluctantly agreed Josephine. Walking into the Great Hall, they were met with many stares. Apparently the little confrontation had not been very quiet. Josephine kept her eyes glued to the floor when saying goodbye to Andie and walking to her table. She sa back down in her seat and began eating as if nothing had happened. After five minutes of silence from her, the boys had had enough.

"Are you okay?" asked Remus and Frank at the same time.

"Mhhhm," mumbled Josephine while giving a small nod.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Frank.

"Maybe later, I have a lot that I need to explain to you Frank. You'll be the second person ever to know about what I'm going to tell you."

"Okay, we can discuss it after Transfiguration."

"Sounds like a plan Stan" said Josie, feeling more like her old self. "Now what's this I hear about hexxin Snape?"

"Well," smirked James triumphantly, "We had to live up to our promise, so we gave him a little something to think about."

"Yeah," said Sirius, "He definitely won't be bothering you any time soon."

"Thanks, you guys didn't have to do anything, you know."

"Oh, we know, but we _wanted _to."

"Well, like I said, thanks." said Josephine awkwardly, she wasn't used to so many people being nice to her, especially these people.

"Let's get to class guys." said Remus the bookworm.

"Fine." reluctantly agreed everybody, and with that, they were on there way to Charms on Friday the Fifteenth of October.


	10. I Don't Love You

**Authors Note: I am sorry for this being late! I just started Spring Break this week and my internal clock is a little bit off. I am going to start giving shout-outs to all of the stupendous people who have alerted/favorited/reviewed this story. Without further ado...Thank you:**

**.Nicoleta **

**Chicagoman58312 **

**peaceoutrunner23 **

**reBELLS14 **

**Fan of Hina-chan **

**HarryPotter512 **

**letters from no one **

**Luc324 **

**sonorusgoesthesilence**

**You guys are so inhumanly awesome! Thank you so much! If anyone thinks that they were supposed to be up here, but got left out, just PM me and I will fix it right away. Enjoy chapter nine:))**

**I do not own anything except for my original content and what not.**

"All Hallow's Eve, my favourite holiday!" squealed Josie as she and Frank walked to the Great Hall for breakfast on Sunday, October 31.

"Why in the name of Merlin, is Halloween your favourite holiday?" asked an exhaperated Frank.

"Why not Frankie, why not?" Even though Frank had only known Josephine for a few months, he already knew just about everything there was to know about her, or at least what she was comfortable with him knowing, anyway, back to the plot line. Frank knew her quirks more than anyone, other than Andie that is, so this is why he just accepted her loose-ended answer with a shrug.

"Hello, Hayworth." came the greeting of James Potter. Josephine didn't realize he had been there and jumped about five feet in the air.

"Spoiled Sour Cream! You scared the heffalump out of me!"

"What in Merlin's name is a Heffalump?" piped in Sirius Black.

"Why is everyone saying Merlin so much?" inquired Josephine.

"It's a wizard expression, we use it instead of saying God like muggles do." supplied Remus.

"Ohhh, that makes tons more sense, thanks!"

"Will you two stop blabbering and tell me what the bleeding hell a Heffalump is!" cried James.

"Now, Mr. Potter, there is no need for foul language." said Josephine in what she thought was an immpecable McGonagall impression.

"Plese just tell us." begged Sirius.

"A Heffalump is a fictional elephant thingy in a muggle children's series called Whinnie the Pooh."

"That's incredibly boring."

"Well, you asked James, and I answered. Now, let's get to breakfast before Snape get's grease all over our seats. I imagine he is taking advantage of our absence and is talking to Lily." As soon as they walked, well, sauntered in two certain someone's case, into the Great Hall, Josephine was proved right. Snape was indeed getting grease all over their seats. The odd group went to sit down in their seats and Snape, by some miracle, just walked off with a sneer. No taunting or anything.

'Hmm,' thought Josephine, 'Must be because I'm with the Marauders.' Josephine began pondering this whilst eating a piece of toast.

"Well, that was a delicous meal. Wouldn't you agree Hayworth?" asked Sirius loudly.

"Hmm?"

"I said, wasn't that a great meal?"

"I suppose, why d'you ask?"

"I dunno, you were spaced out."

"She does that a lot, you might as well get used to it." offered Frank.

"Thanks for the tip." said Remus.

"No problem."

"Are you guys excited for Halloween tonight?" asked a suddenly energetic Josephine.

"I guess." was Jame's reply.

"Excited enough, I suppose." was Remus's.

"Umm, sure." came Frank's.

"Mhhm." mumbled Peter.

"OF COURSE I AM EXCITED! HOW COULD YOU EVEN ASK THAT? HALLOWEEN IS THE BEST HOLIDAY EVER!" yelled Sirius.

"HOLY COTTAGE CHEESE SIRIUS! YOU ARE THE ONLY OTHER PERSON I HAVE EVER MET WHO LOVE IT AS MUCH AS ME! THIS IS AWESOME!"

"SAME HERE!"

"CAN WE STOP YELLING NOW? MY VOICE HURTS AND PEOPLE ARE BEGINNING TO STARE."

"Oh yeah, sure." said a sheepish Sirius.

"But, seriously..."

"Haha, you said my name!"

"Please don't cut me off every time I say your name. Back to what I was saying, this is really awesome. Why is it your favourite holiday?"

"It's the only holiday that my parents enjoyed. They were happier on Halloween. It was nice."

"Are they not alive?"

"No, they are." answered Sirius tensely.

"I'm sorry, that was rude to ask. It's not my business."

"It's okay, you didn't know." An awkward silence followed, but they were once again rescued from it by Remus.

"Why is it your favourite holiday Josephine?"

"You have such freedom. You get to leave the house and have fun. People are happier, like Sirius said. It's the only time that you don't have to be youself."

"Those are good reasons."

"I know." A few minutes passed and the group was joined by Lizzy, Sapphirre, and Andie.

"You guys do realize that you are they only people left in here, right?" asked Andie.

"Umm, no we aren't. You guys are here. Duh." said Josie. With that remark she recieved a hearty 'glare' from Andie, who still wasn't good at glaring.

"Let's go outside Josie." offered Lizzy.

"Okay, Frank would you like to join us?"

"Sure, sounds like fun."

"Wait a second, no offense to Frank, but this was supposed to be a girls day. We haven't had one of those since school started Josie. You've been with Frank twenty-four-seven."

"But Frank's my friend. You guys aren't being very fair to him."

"Really, it's fine Josie. I'll just go read or something." said Frank.

"That's not being fair to you though, it would be selfish of me."

"Listen, Frank can hang out with us. He is our roommate after all." offered James.

"Would that be okay with you Frank?" asked Josephine.

"Sounds good to me. You have girl time and I have guy time."

"Well, okay, but we have to meet up before the feast. Okay?"

"Okay."

Josie's Girl Time Experience

"So, Sapphirre, what have you been up to as of late?" asked Andie.

"Oh, this and that, tit and tat."

"That's good, I guess."

"Oh, it is."

"Good."

"Well I want the skinny on Josephine's _boyfriend_ Frank." said Lizzy.

"He's not my boyfriend. He's just one of my best friends."

"Doesn't seem like it." added in a pouting Andie.

"Why are you pouting? Do you fancy him or something?" asked Josephine desperate to take the attention off herself.

"No I don't fancy him! How could you even think that?"

"Seems like ya do."

"Well, I don't."

"Okayyyy, whatever you say Andrea, whatever you say."

"That's right, whatever I say." smiled Andie.

Frank's Guy Time Experience

"Well Frank, ole boy ole pal. What's the skinny on you and Hayworth?" asked James in his blunt way.

"What do you mean 'what's the skinny'?"

"I mean, is she your _girlfriend_?"

"No, she's not my girlfriend, she's my _best _friend."

"Well, that's boring." complained Sirius.

"Not really, she's really a handfull. She's always wanting to do crazy things that would get us in trouble. Like setting off stinkbombs in Potions or sneaking out at night to, as she says, 'explore this bugger of a castle.' She is not your average girl. She also spaces out a lot and says random and sligtly alarming things all of the time."

"I didn't know she was cool like that! I mean I knew about the spacing out part, but not the other stuff. Does she actually have stinkbombs?" asked an excited Sirius.

"Unfortunately yes, but she won't be happy that I told you about that stuff, so keep it on the down low. Okay?"

"Urghh, okay." agreed a reluctant Sirius.

"Same goes for you others, if she knew I was talking about her, she would die of embarassment."

"Why is she so insecure?" asked James.

"Umm, remember how you guy treated her at the beginning of the year? Well, that's how everyone in her hometown treats her, other than Andie of course."

"Why, she's pretty cool."

"Why did you guys? You didn't try to get to know her, you just saw the outside and picked on her because of that."

"Oh, what about her parents though?"

"You'll have to ask her about that. She doesn't like to talk about them. It was only out of necessity that she told me."

"Well boys, seem as if we have a mystery to solve." said James deviously.

"Maybe we shouldn't snoop about her personal life you guys. We should just let her tell us if and when she wants to." said Sirius much to the surprise of the other boys.

"He's right, we shouldn't snoop." concured Remus.

"You know, you guys are a lot more mature than I thought."

"Only when we _have _to be." replied James.

"Well, it's still refreshing to see it in action."

"Yes, it is." agreed Remus. "Yes it is."


	11. Party Poison

**Author's Note: I'm baaaack! I know that I have been gone for many a week, but I am back and that's all that matters. I have just finished moving in to my new house and am inspired. As I am writing this we do not have internet, so that is another reason why this will be even later than it already is. I realized after I posted chapter nine that I never even got to the stinking Halloween feast! I feel like such a failure, but never fear, the feast is here.**

**I do not own anything except for my original content and what not.**

Later that evening all of our favourite first-years met up to walk to the feast together.

"So boys, was your 'guy time' eventful?" asked Josephine.

"Not really, but I did enjoy hanging out with boys for once, no offense Josie." replied Frank.

"None taken."

"How was your 'girl time'?" asked Sirius curiously, too curiously if you asked Josie.

"Fine and dandy captain candy." replied, guess who, Josephine.

"Umm, okay?" To this his only reply was a vigorous head bob in a manner that seemed to mean yes. Moments later they arriveed at the Great Hall and all gasped in unison. The Hall was magnificent. It was decorated beautifully and, well, magically. Without saying goodbye they all separated and went to their respective tables. Once Josephine and the boys sat at their table they began babbling at once about how "cool" and "wicked" it looked. Dumbledore stood up, after giving all of the students a few minutes to let it set in, and began his speech. I will spare you the details because all he really did was wish them a happy Halloween in his usual, or unsusual, Dumbledore way. As soon as he was done with his speech the food arrived. Pumpkin was a popular ingedident tonight. Josephine was ectstatic.

"Hey, guys?"

"What?" they replied in unison.

"This is AWESOME!"

"I KNOW!"

"Oh god! Sirius, Josephine, please don't start yelling again." pleaded a waery Remus.

"Sorry Remy." said a sheepish Joesphine.

"Yeah, sorry Rem."

"It's okay, just please try not to do it anymore, my ears can't take any more."

"Okee Dokee Artichokee!"

"Yeah! What she said!"

**A/N: Please don't kill me for it's shortness! It is just a little bit that was supposed to be in the last chapter. I promise that the chapter after the next,chapter 12, will be at least 1,500 words if not more. Please read on and review!**


	12. Give Em' Hell Kid

**Author's Note: Well hello, long time no see:)) Just kidding! I don't really have much to say except for, THANK YOU! I hope you all enjoy chapter 11!**

**I do not own anything except for my original content and what not.**

"Little darling, it feels like years since it's been clear. Here somes the sun, here somes the sun, and I say it's alright." sang Josephine as she took her nightly shower. As she washed the shampoo out of her hair, she began to think about Christmas. It was only a few weeks away and she wasn't sure what was going to happen. She knew she couldn't go home, but none of her friends were staying at the school, so she would be all alone. Which, in a word, sucked.

'I guess ole Dumbles and Minnie will be here.' she thought. 'Even Andie is leaving me, I think I'm scared for the first time since I was a baby. I don't like it.' When she was done showering, she dressed and came out into her room only to be greeted by a mass of firey red hair.

" What do you want Evans?" she asked tiredly.

"What do I want? What do _I _want? Oh, really like you don't know."

"Umm, yeah?"

"Well if you are going to insist on playing the innocent, then I will just leave, but mark my words Josephine Hayworth, you'll pa for this one." After Lily had stormed off to her bed, Josephine ran down to the common room, hoping that one of her friends was down there to help her make sense of that exchange. Upon entering the room she discovered that Sirius was the only one present at the moment. Josephine shrugged and walked over to her favourite chair and plopped down in it.

"Hey Black."

"Hey Hayworth, haha hey hay! That's funny!"

"Oh, haha." came her sarcastic reply.

"What's up?"

"Lily just freaked out on me for no reason. I was comping out of the loo and all of the sudden she rounds on me and starts going on about how I'm 'going to pay.' It was surreal."

"Umm, I might know why that happened."

"WHAT!"

"Well, yeah. You see, James and I thought it was downright deplorable the way Snape treats you, so we thought that we'd get a bit of revenge, yeah?"

"What kind of revenge?"

"We may or may not have dumped a bucket of soapy water on his head and it may or may not have contained pink dye and itching powder."

"So that must be why Lily thought I did something."

"Yeah, I guess." replied Sirius reluctantly.

"So you guys really did that for me?"

"Of course, who else would we do it for?"

"I...you guys...thanks." stuttered Josephine.

"It was no big deal. I'm just sorry that you've got Evans after your throat now."

"Pshhh, it's fine, it's not like she wasn't already."

"Why does she hate you so much?"

"On the train over here she and Snape barged into our cabinet to get away from you guys and she was very rude and had an attitude, so I gave her a taste of her own medicine and apparently she didn't like it."

"That's a stupid reason to be terrible to someone."

"Oh well, it is what it is, now, isn't it?"

"Wow, that was a lot is and it!"

"It's a talent."

"Definitely." grinned Sirius.

"Are you staying for Holidays Josie?" Josephine took a happily surprised minute to respond. The reason for here shock you see, was because that was the first time Sirius had ever addressed her by her first name let alone her nickname.

"Umm, what? Oh, holidays, yeah I am. My uh, parents wanted me to stay here."

"Oh, okay."

"Yeah...so, are you excited to be going home?"

"I...guess so." replied Sirius as an awkward silence settled in and made itself comfortable.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Okay Sirius?"

"Okay Josephine. Goodnight."


	13. Heaven Help Us

**Author's Note: Okay, so this chapter will hopefully be able to live up to my promise of 1,500 words or more. I know the last two chapters were short, but they were mainly just fillers until Christmas. Read and Review:))**

**I would like to thank...**

**JojoSalas for alerting me and,**

**reBELLS14 for reviewing**

**I do not own anything except for my original content and what not.**

* * *

><p>"Mrow. Mrowwww. MROWWW!"<p>

This was how Josephine woke up on the morning of December 25, otherwise known as Christmas. Harold was screeching his alarm in her ear. Rolling over, she replied with,

"Shut the hell up Harry! Can't you see I'm trying to enjoy my freedom to sleep?"

"MROW!"

"Fine, I'll get up if you'll shut up." Josephine clamored out of bed to be greeted by the empty bedroom that would usually be filled with three other girls. On her way to the bathroom, something shiny, at the end of her bed, caught her eye. 'I wonder what the devil that could be.' Waling over to inspect it more thoroughly, she discovered that it was a present...surrounded by more presents. "What the hell!" exclaimed Josie.

Gingerly sitting down in the middle of the pile she pulled the original one that had caught her eye into her lap. Looking at the tag on she saw that it was from Andie. 'Well, that one could be expected, but what about the others?' After looking at all of the tags she wrote down all of the names on a list: Andie, Lizzy, Sapphirre, Frank, Remus, James, Sirius, Hagrid, and even Peter had sent her something. 'Wow. This was so nice of them. I have amazing friends.'

Andie sent her a locket with a magic picture of the two of them in one side and a picture of all of the marauders, Frank, Lizzy, Sapph, and them. Lizzy sent a set of stationary for her to write to them over break. Sapphirre sent a new edition of her brothers magazine that he makes out of his room, the Quibbler.

From James she received a book on Quidditch , from Sirius, a Chudley Cannons scarf, and from Peter a little snow globe. Hagrid sent an invitation to have tea at his house that very day, and last but not least, Frank sent a scrapbook half-filled with magic pictures of all of them hanging out through the year so far. He attached a note saying, " I hope that we are able to fill up the rest of it this year." Josephine took a moment to soak all of this up. As a tear ran down her face she got up, dressed, and headed down for breakfast.

Of course something had to ruin her day, and that something was named Severus Snape. He had chosen not to go home for break. 'Great,' thought Josie, 'now I'm going to have to be alone around him for the rest of break.' Because most students had opted to go home, the staff and students sat together at one table. I'll give you a hint at who Josie had to sit next to, his initials are SS and he had greasy hair. They chose not to say anything to each other and instead listened to Dumbledore reminisce with McGonagall about previous Christmas's.

After some downing some quality uncooked oatmeal, just how Josie prefers it, she pranced out to the Black Lake, to lounge around until it was time for Hagrid's tea. As she was lying there daydreaming about what it would be like when her friends came back from break, she noticed a shadow looming over her. Turning around, she came face-to-knee cap with Professor Dumbledore.

"Hello Miss Hayworth, how are you this fine day?"

"Umm, f-fine I s-suppose." Stuttered Josephine, she was intimidated by his prominence and couldn't quite speak. She knew that he was a nice guy, after all he had helped pay for her supplies, but she still couldn't shake her fear of men. Hagrid was a whole other story, he was like a big kid, but Dumbledore, now he was old. She did love his style, even if it was too attention-grabbing for her to ever wear. Suddenly, Josephine began blushing furiously when she realized that she had been staring at him for five minutes without saying anything.

"S-sorry Professor, I spaced out a bit."

"Ah, I figured as much. I must admit though, the reason I came here was not to gaze at the beauty of nature. Would you mind accompanying me to my office?"

"Yes, sir...I mean no, sir...I mean, I don-" Dumbledore decided to end the poor girls misery by saying,

"No need to become flustered, I am assuming that you were trying to say yes, you will accompany to my office."

"Yes, sir. I was trying to say that." sighed a grateful Josephine.

Once they arrived in his office, the elderly headmaster asked her to "please, take a seat" and would she "like a lemon drop?" Politely declining his offer whilst sitting down in a surprisingly comfortable chair, Josephine looked up to him expectantly.

"I suppose you are wondering why I have brought you into my office." To this Josephine replied with a demure nod.

"Well, Josephine, it has come to my attention that your parents," Dumbledore ruffled through some papers looking for some information, "John and Rita Hayworth, have requested that you stay here for the summer. I have tried to tell them on numerous occasions that Hogwarts does not accommodate students in the summer, but they are persistent. Now, what do you propose I do?"

Josephine looked at him in stunned silence. The Hayworths had contacted her Headmaster about her? This was embarrassing, she hoped that this wasn't going to trigger an investigation into her home life. She didn't know what she would do if she was put into a foster home or an orphanage.

"Sir, I do not know how to answer you. If they do not want me staying with them over the summer, and I cannot stay here, I do not know what I will do.

"Well, I fear that I may have to instigate an investigation into your home life. If they are treating you like this when you are not there, then I must wonder how they must treat you when you are at home."

Josephine visibly paled when he said almost the exact thing she was afraid he would say.

"I don't want you to do that!" blurted Josephine.

"And why not?"

"I don't want to have to leave Hogwarts and my friends."

"What makes you think that would happen?"

"If you look into my home life, then I will be put in child protective services and be stuck in an orphanage or foster home."

"There are foster homes and orphanages in the Wizarding World."

"There are?"

"Yes, there are. Now, what you have said has worried me, what is that makes you so sure that you will be taken from your home if there is an investigation?"

"I...don't have the best...home life." Josephine tried to word it as delicately as possible.

"May I ask what makes it bad?"

"I...don't really want to talk about it sir, I apologize."

"No, please, accept my apologies. I understand why you wouldn't want to share this with someone you barely know. I just want you to understand that I, and the rest of the staff, are here for you if you ever need an adult to talk to. I also want you to know that there will be an investigation and I will personally make sure that you have a good place in the Wizarding World to live."

"Thank you so much Professor." said a grateful Josephine in a husky tone, trying to hold back tears.

"You are most welcome Miss Hayworth, most welcome indeed."

After that emotional conversation with her Headmaster, Josephine needed a relaxing cup of tea, good thing it was about time to head over to Hagrid's. Singing one of her favorite songs, Penny Lane, she trotted off the his hut. Upon reaching the door, she lightly rapped on the solid wood. After a moment, a loud banging could be heard and the door swung open to reveal a grinning Hagrid, covered in flour.

"Hello Josie, come on in!"

"Hi Hagrid, thank you for inviting me over."

"It's my pleasure!" Looking around, Josie saw that the friendly half-giant had tried his darndest to make the little hut, look festive. He had made popcorn and cranberry ropes that were hanging on the tree and over the mantle. The tree was a overly large pine, that he had probably cut down himself. On the small table was a red green table cloth with tea and actual biscuits adorning its surface.

"Oh, Hagrid! It's magnificently magnificent! It must have taken you hours to to all of this!"

"Oh, it isn't all that really, it only took a second." said a bashfully blushing Hagrid.

"No, it really is something, you are so great Hagrid." This only caused him to blush more. He quickly tried to steer the subject away from him and onto something else.

"I invited that Slytherin boy, Severus Snape, but I don't think he'll be joining us. I only did it to be nice."

"Ha, I would have liked to see his face. He is the biggest jerk in the school, other than Lily Evans, and a stuck up twit at that!"

"I'm getting the feeling that you don't like him." Hagrid teased playfully.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." smiled Josephine. Sitting down to eat the biscuits and drink the tea, Hagrid and Josie had several very nice discussions about trivial little things. After she had been there for nearly two hours, Josie regretfully told her friend that she had to go, or else she would miss dinner.

Saying her goodbyes, Josephine skipped off to the castle, eager to get these holidays over with, so she could be with her friends again. In the middle of her trip, she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Turning in the direction it came from, she saw nothing. Feeling the hairs on the back of her neck prick up at the thought of being followed, she rushed the rest of the way, flying through the doors while panting heavily, half out of fear and half out of physical stress. Looking around wildly and seeing nothing, she calmed herself and walked into the Great Hall. Scanning her surroundings, she saw that everyone from breakfast was there, all except for one person, Severus Snape.

**Author's Note: BAM! 1,752 words! I promised 1,500 and I delivered! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please review!**


	14. The End

**Authors Note: Okay, I have lost all motivation for this character. She has gotten away from me and is going in a direction that I did not intend. I may use the same character in another story someday, but for now, she is in retirement. As I was reading through this again, I became so bored and appalled with the writing that I am taking a break from fanfiction. Hopefully, I will be inspired and maybe, what with summer being here, will write a new story, but for now...I do have a story on fiction press that I am happy with so far. If anyone is interested in it, the name is _You're Never Gonna Fit In Much Kid_. My author name on that site is myharlequinromance321. I apologize for you having to read this terrible story.**


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